Discovering lentils' versatility beyond the soup pot

View full sizeBRUCE ELY/THE OREGONIANLentils come in a rainbow of colors: yellow, pink, red, orange, brown, green and black. The green and black varieties are the best at keeping their shape during cooking.

Lentils are one of the wallflowers of the food world -- at least in this country, where a lot of home cooks use the humble legumes in hearty winter soups and virtually nothing else.

But elsewhere in the world, lentils have star power for their many varieties and tremendous versatility. In India, they're a cornerstone of the cuisine.

"They are super foods," says Sophie Rahman, an Indian cooking instructor who teaches a class on lentils as part of her Masala series. "They're such a wonderful source of protein. They're versatile and economical, and when they're cooked up they take up the flavor of whatever spices you put in. That's the beauty of lentils."

In India, lentils are known generically as dal, along with other legumes such as garbanzo beans and mung beans. During her lentils class, Rahman shows how to use dal in a variety of southern Indian dishes, including a stew of salmon-colored masoor dal and zucchini with serrano chiles and fresh ginger, and a purée of light-yellow moong dal and coconut milk that's seasoned with cumin seeds, turmeric and cinnamon.

Indian Cooking with LentilsSophie Rahman teaches an Indian cooking class focused on lentils. During the class, she demonstrates how to make adai, an Indian pancake made of lentils.

But the most intriguing dish Rahman prepares is a pancake called adai, made with four types of dal, as well as basmati rice, coconut, an array of spices and cilantro. Adai are a direct culinary link to her family's southern Indian roots, where lentil pancakes are a common street food.

"My mother is south Indian," she says. "Even though I grew up in Pakistan, a lot of the dishes that we prepared were south Indian, and I was introduced to these pancakes when I was very young."

When shopping for lentils in an Indian grocery, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the wide variety of options. Some common dal, such as urad and toor, are sold both whole and split, and are featured differently in Indian regional cuisine. In southern India, Rahman says the split varieties are most commonly used.

She calls the urad variety "an amazing lentil. It's white and flowery, and when it's split in the south, it's used to make the batter for the dosa (lentil crepes), and it's even used as a seasoning. The split dal produces this wonderful, rich creaminess."

Rahman dresses up her lentil pancakes with fresh chutney that uses equal parts cilantro and mint, plus sweetness from coconut and tamarind paste. Growing up, her mother would use this chutney when the pancakes were made for breakfast or as mid-afternoon snacks. But Rahman uses the chutney with samosas, which are little fried hand pies stuffed with roasted vegetables, as well as grilled chicken skewers and roasted root vegetables.

Nutritionally, lentils are hard to beat. In addition to all their protein, they are loaded with fiber, folate, vitamin B1, thiamin and iron, and they have just trace amounts of fat.

Another virtue is how affordable they are. Most lentil varieties sell for about $2 a pound uncooked, and you can get about five servings out of a pound, or about 40 cents per serving. Perhaps that's why lentils are sometimes referred to as "poor man's meat" and are used as a budget-stretching ingredient in peasant cooking around the world, from French country fare to spicy North African stews.

Whether they are enjoyed in Indian cooking or other global fare, Rahman hopes more people will discover the wonders of lentils: "They're good for so much more than soup."

Lentils are one of the world's super foods and have a rich history -- they've been found in Egyptian tombs dating back 2,400 years, and there's evidence of their use in the Middle East more than 8,000 years ago. Here's what makes them such an essential food:

Lentils are cousins of beans, and part of the legume family (seeds that grow within pods), and are widely cultivated throughout the world. In the United States, eastern Washington is one of the largest growing regions.

Health magazine calls lentils one of the five most healthful foods in the world, and it's easy to see why. They are high in protein, dietary fiber, folate and vitamin B1, and are a rich source of thiamin and iron -- all with just a trace amount of fat.

How much protein are we talking about? Twenty-six percent of the calories in lentils come from protein, which puts them just behind soy beans and hemp in the plant world for protein level by weight.

Lentils come in a rainbow of colors: yellow, pink, red, orange, brown, green and black. The green and black varieties are the best at keeping their shape during cooking.

Research suggests that regular consumption of lentils can play a role in lowering blood cholesterol and reducing the risk of diabetes.

Cooking with lentils

Before cooking, carefully rinse and sort lentils. It's not uncommon to find small stones and field debris among them.

Don't add acidic ingredients like tomatoes, vinegar or lemon juice to lentils until they are done cooking. Acids keep uncooked lentils from becoming tender, though it's fine to add acids once the lentils are soft.

Worried about gas? Spices such as fresh ginger and asafetida are reputed to help break down the complex sugars that cause digestive discomfort -- part of the reason those ingredients are common in many Indian and Asian recipes.

Lentil resources

Cooking instructor Sophie Rahman regularly teaches classes on dals and lentils, along with other classes in Indian cuisine. Find details and class descriptions at masalanw.com.

Most supermarkets carry one or two varieties of lentils in the same aisle as rice and beans. Stores with a large selection of bulk foods, such as the Whole Foods Markets at Bridgeport Village and in the Hollywood District, offer multiple varieties beyond the common brown and green lentils.

The richest selection of lentils can be found at Indian grocery stores, where you can find whole and split versions of multiple varieties. Two of the best in the metro area are tucked away in Beaverton industrial parks, so you have to go looking for them.

At India Sweets & Spices (16205 N.W. Bethany Court, No. 110; 503-690-0499; indiasweetsspices.com), big bags can be found in a section toward the back of the market, and at Apna Bazaar (1815 N.W. 169th Place, No. 6022; 503-533-0424), lentils dominate an entire wall by the entry. Both groceries sell lentils in 2-, 4- and 8-pound bags, allowing you to stock up if there's a variety you really like.